NIR Baseline Calibrations

A set of baseline calibrations will be taken for all Gemini queue observations in order to ensure the long-term utility of the data in the archive. This baseline calibration set varies from mode to mode, but includes all the data deemed necessary to produce scientifically useful data. PIs are free to request additional calibrations beyond the baseline set, however, all calibrations, baseline or additional, must be specified by the PI in the Phase II
definition. The difference between baseline and requested calibrations is that baseline calibrations are not charged to the program, while any additional calibrations are charged to the program. The table below describes the calibrations for each wavelength regime and delineates which are included in the baseline set. Instrument-specific variations are noted.

Baseline calibration data have no proprietary period and are publicly available in the archive as soon as they are uploaded. These observations may be executed from a shared "Basecal" program (for shared configurations) or from within each science program. Time used to obtain baseline calibrations between nautical evening twilight and nautical morning twilight is charged to the partner country associated with the program or programs (i.e., "Nighttime Partner Calibration"). Time between morning and evening twilight is not charged (i.e., "Daytime Calibration"). Any time required for additional calibrations requested by the PI is charged to the program (i.e., "Nighttime Program Calibration"). To ensure proper time accounting, please set the Observation Class correctly on all calibration observations. Examples of baseline calibration observations are available in the OT libraries for each
instrument.

Imaging 1-2.5 µm

Imaging >2.5 µm

Spectroscopy 1-2.5 µm

Spectroscopy >2.5µm

Bad pixel mask

Can be derived nightly from GCAL flats and short darks; a "canned" BPM may be available in the instrument IRAF package.

GCAL Flat Fields

GCAL imaging flats specified in the Phase II will be taken the morning after the science observations; these should include shutter-open and shutter-closed exposures to allow for correction of thermal emission, dark current, and hot pixels.

GCAL cannot be used for L and M-band imaging due to saturation of the array.

GCAL spectroscopic flats1 will be taken either with the science program at night, or the following morning. See the OT library for each instrument for examples and more details.

Sky Flat Fields

Not part of the baseline calibration set. At L and M sky flats are the only flats available and must be derived from the program data; at shorter wavelengths sky flats may be substituted for GCAL flats. In some cases dark current stability can limit the accuracy of the sky flats, so you may wish to specify dark frames.2

Not applicable

Darks

If desired, dark frames for science exposures can be defined and will be taken as daytime calibrations (not during the night). These are recommended for NIFS observations, to identify hot pixels.
It is expected that most PIs will use "sky" frames to remove dark current (in addition to sky). Short darks (~1s) are taken daily for all instruments to assess readnoise and identify bad pixels.

Wavelength calibration

Not applicable

Ar and/or Xe arc lamp measurements should be specified in the science observation for each spectral setting.
In some cases,3 a corresponding "lamp off" exposure
should be included. For GNIRS in it highest resolution mode, in some cases the limited spectral coverage does not in include enough arc lines for an accurate calibration; sky lines in the science and/or telluric standard exposures are used instead.

Sky lines present in the science data are used to determine the wavelength calibration.

Telluric standard

Not applicable

We will observe one telluric standard per science target for every 1.5 hours of clock time on the science target. Continuous observations of the science target may be up to 3 hours in length, bracketed by two telluric standards.

We will observe one telluric standard per science target for every 1 hour of clock time on the science target. Continuous observations of the science target may also be up to 2 hours in length, bracketed by two telluric standards.

PIs should include two
standards in every observation group: one suitable for observation before the science target, and one suitable for after the science target. See our telluric standards page for more information.

Flux standard

We will observe one photometric standard for every 2 hours of clock time on the science target. The PI should supply one standard before and one after the science observation in order to give a good airmass match. See our photometric standards page for more information. Photometric accuracy is limited to ~10% by the uncertainty in the (unmeasured) atmospheric extinction.

Written in the header of all images. The WCS is accurate to approximately one arcsec.

Spatial Rectification mask (i.e., for S-distortion correction)

Not applicable

GNIRS:for cross-dispersed data an appropriate pinhole mask spectrum should be defined with the flatfields; for long slit, a pinhole can be specified if desired.NIFS: a "Ronchi" calibration mask spectrum is provided for each wavelength setting.

Focal plane mask image

Not applicable

The slit or IFU will be imaged without the disperser as part of the acquisition sequence.

Radial Velocity or Line index Standards

Not applicable

Not part of the baseline calibration set.

Notes:

1Where necessary, flats taken with the calibration unit make use of shutter open and closed images to allow correction of dark current and hot pixels. NIRI spectroscopic flats typically only include shutter-open exposures,
as the contribution from the background is negligible, and the dark current can be removed using daytime darks. NIFS daytime calibration templates include "lamp off" flats to remove dark current.

2 The calibration unit produces a beam that matches the telescope pupil very well except that it contains no central obscuration. The light path between GCAL and the instrument excludes the primary and secondary mirrors as well. The GCAL illumination is therefore subtly different from that of sky flats. Sky flats can be constructed
from data that sees exactly the same pupil. For narrow band filters in the 1-2.5 microns region dark current subtraction can be important for making sky flats and variations of dark current over periods of a few hours can limit their accuracy. Therefore, we recommend that GCAL flats be obtained (in the daytime). If for some reason sky flats are desired for 1-2.5 micron narrow band imaging, then dark current images should be taken at the same time as the data to be used to construct sky flats (note that the program will be charged for this time). For 3-5 micron imaging exposure times are very short, dark current is a miniscule effect compared to the background, and it is not necessary to obtain darks during nighttime.

GCAL imaging flats are reproducible from night to night to about 0.3% i.e. the sensitivity of a given pixel varies by 0.3% over many nights as measured by GCAL. Obviously, for a star that subtends many pixels, the photometric accuracy will be approximately 0.3% divided by the square root of the
number of pixels.

3Darks are taken for NIFS arcs to remove hot pixels which would complicate the wavelength calibration process.

4 Flux calibration is inaccurate because of slit losses, which vary
somewhat with wavelength (due to differential refraction and the
wavelength dependence of seeing). For this reason, spectrophotometric standards are not
done as part of the standard baseline calibration. The accuracy for which the relative flux
density of a telluric standard is known is probably better than 10%
for a given atmospheric window, 10-20% for the full range of a
cross-dispersed spectrum. If the project requires more accurate flux
calibration than this, the observer has two choices:

Ensure that photometry is already available for the science
targets, and normalize the spectra.

Request time with
photometric conditions for additional observations of the target and a
flux calibrator with a wide slit to provide the normalization.